A Good Cup Of Canis Root Tea
by KytanicFox
Summary: Neloth needs a new apprentice after his recent mishap, and House Telvanni provides him with a truley... Interesting subject. Rated T for now, but will switch to M for later chapters. Neloth/F!OC
1. Chapter 1

So I got this idea mostly from playing the Dragonborn expansion, but this story will have almost nothing to do with the questline. This isn't really a story with a defined, "point", so it's mostly just about Neloth taking on a female prodigy of magic. I hope you guys enjoy it!

I own nothing save for some bits of the story and my OC.

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><p>How could Morrowind be so bloody warm?<p>

Neloth sat in his personal Silt Strider, gritting his teeth in annoyance by the damp heat, the strong scent of sulfur, and the creatures' wails and calls. All of it was going to drive him mad. And, coupled with all of this, today was the most annoying of all days: the day Neloth, master Telvanni wizard, would take on yet another lowly apprentice to lick his boots.

It truly wouldn't be such a nuisance if they would have simply brought the new apprentice to him as they had done in the past, but in the letter his fellow house members practically _begged_ him to come to Morrowind to see , as they put it, "a spectacular addition to Tel Mithryn". Hmph. The only thing that Neloth could possibly think of that would be a "spectacular addition" to his home would be a silent automaton that brewed the perfect cup of canis root tea every time whenever he wished. Hmm... That wouldn't be too difficult if he truly thought about it. But thinking is a bit difficult with that _damned bug wailing repeatedly!_

"Would you tell this thing to be quiet? If I am going to be forced away from my home, I would at least like to find sanctity in my mind!" Neloth growled to the driver. The driver of the old Silt Strider sighed.

"Serrah, I can't silence her. I've told you this before, and I have a feeling I will most certainly tell you again." Neloth scowled, narrowing his red eyes at the back of the insolent Dunmer's head. Just one quick paralysis spell and an "unfortunate fall", then maybe he could finally-

"Whoa, Dusty. Slow it down girl." The master wizard snapped from his thoughts and leaned to the side to see the "dock" nearing. He let out a sigh of disdain, seeing a wizard in Telvanni robes along with a pair of House Telvanni guards behind him. As the bug finally slowed to a stop at the head of the poorly constructed wooden planks, Neloth wasted no tine in standing and dusting himself off. He stepped out of the Silt Strider and was greeted with a Dunmer with a silly looking grin.

"Ah, Neloth! It is a-" He was quickly silenced by the scowling wizard with a raised hand.

"Let's just skip the niceties and get to this apprentice, shall we? I have several delicate experiments back home that need my attention and I do not plan on wasting time here." As Neloth lowered his hand, he saw the Dunmer had deflated some and and looked slightly dejected, but, annoyingly, he perked back up.

"Of course, Master Neloth. Right his way. I do believe that this one will last far longer than her predecessors." Neloth raised a brow as he walked behind the man. He highly doubted that anyone could have handled having their heart replaced by a heart stone could last very long. But, as always, Neloth kept these thoughts to himself. Rumors already circulated about his experiments, and he doubted that anyone would take very kindly to that particular failure.

And they may stop sending him test subjects.

The sickeningly chipper mer insisted on chattering all the way to the Temple about the silliest things, but Neloth paid no attention. He instead allowed his eyes to wonder over the populace of this little settlement. Vvardenfel seemed to be rebuilding nicely, but it still looked similar to Raven Rock. Oh, how he wished he could see this place in it's former glory before the Argonians and the Red Mountain eruptions again. It was such a lovely place.

"Master?" Neloth looked at the slightly peeved Dunmer, his expression dull. He responded by arching an eyebrow in question. The younger man sighed.

"Your new prodigy is inside. Now, I need you to keep an open mind. She is a tad younger than you wished, but she is a stellar student." The young man grinned and opened the doors to the Temple.

The inside of the temple was much larger than the outside let on. The high ceilings were painted in ornate swirls and designs and at the end of the long hall were the statues of the three goddesses. But all of the ornate designs aren't what caught the eye of the Telvanni wizard. What he saw made him stop in his tracks and, the Three preserve him, the idiot next to him smiled.

"Oh, I knew that you would be amazed!" The foolish mer gestured the short Dunmer girl toward then, and, keeping her eyes downcast, she shuffled toward them. She stopped about five feet from the master wizard and continued to stare at her feet. Neloth felt his eye twitch and his head begin to swim with several insults and/or spells to fling at the insolent man for bringing him a _child_.

But, once again, the foolish man took Neloth's expression as one of shock.

"Her name is Fiari. She has no family name, as we found her as an urchin in the streets. But her-"

He couldn't hold it back anymore.

"So, not only have you brought me an inexperienced child, but you bring me _gutter filth_?" The young man flinched. Neloth clenched his fists and felt the heat of a fire spell burning within them.

"Does House Telvanni truly think my standards so low as to accept an_ urchin_ into my home and teach _powerful Telvanni magic? Do you wish to insult me further_?" The man raised his hands, backing up slowly. He attempted to stutter out a response when a quiet mutter sounded behind him. He whipped his head around to see the girl looking up at him... With yellow eyes.

"Wah!" He dropped his spell and jumped back in surprise, allowing the younger wizard to flee behind his bonemold clad guards. He spoke again, his voice shaking a touch from his near death experience.

"A-as I was saying, Fiari has demonstrated an incredibly deep Magicka pool, along with a unique ability to simply see a spell performed and then cast it herself as if she had studied it herself for several years. And if that isn't incredible enough, she also seems to have a high degree of understanding when it comes to history of the Dwemer, Falmer, and other ancient races of Tamriel."

Neloth looked over the girl who simply stared back. He examined her eyes, which seemed to almost glow in the low candle light of the Temple. Something about those eyes seemed so familiar that it irked him and intrigued him at the same time. He kept his face neutral, hiding his extreme curiosity.

"What did you say a moment ago?" The girl lowered her eyes once again, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"I... I just said that I can do more than magic. I can cook and clean as well." Her voice was so quiet that he strained to hear, even with his sensitive ears. He turned his back to the girl, glaring at the young wizard, making him flinch back.

"I have two questions."

The young wizard nodded, trembling slightly.

"One: How old is she?"

The young man cleared his throat and let out a shaky, "15".

"Second: Can she brew a decent pot of canis root tea?"

He looked slightly confused and looked to the girl, then back to him. "Y-yes?"

"Alright then. Pack her things and have her meet me at the dock in one hour. I have several experiments to return to and you have wasted enough of my time."

The young man looked bewildered, then grinned wide and began to let out a string of thank yous as Neloth swung open the doors. The let them fall closed behind him, walking gracefully to his Silt Strider. As he walked, he thought about all of the interesting experiments he could do on the strange girl and smirked.

Oh, this is going to be _fun_.

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><p>Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. ^.^ I hope to continue this drabbly story for a little while. Also, there are going to be some mature scenes in later chapters, so I am only going to be labeling this as T for now. But once those chapters come around,I'll be slapping an M on this puppy.<p>

Anyway, favorite it, review it, follow me, or whatever you want.


	2. Chapter 2

Here we go, another chapter. ^.^ I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as me. From this point on, it's mostly going to be Fiana's point of view with a couple chapters of Neloth's. Also, there are going to be a couple time skips which I will indicate in the beginning of the chapter.

I own nothing aside from bits of my story line and Fiana.

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><p><em>~Two years later~<em>

_"Fiana!_ Hurry it up, girl! This is a very delicate machine and I need that gyro!"

Fiana nearly tripped over herself carrying over the bits of metal and soul gems in her tired arms. Running back and forth between the Dwemer library and all through the tower was exhausting, but she found herself too curious to mind too much.

She gently dropped the assorted metal and gems on the ground beside her master. He was currently paying no attention and instead simply reached out a grey and slender hand. Fiana looked at it for a moment in confusion before it suddenly dawned on her what he was asking for. She snapped down and picked up a gyro and handed it to him. And, as always, he never thanked her. Most would have probably been offended, but it was a compliment that she was even here as his apprentice, so Fiana had no qualms about her master's rudeness.

Since he had said nothing else, Fiana took it as permission to peer over his shoulder at his little machine. It looked nothing like the automatons created in the ruin, so it wasn't a defense mechanism. It seemed to only slightly resemble one of the Dwemer ballistics, but instead of the loading dock for bolts, a spigot stood in it's place. And the whole thing was held up on two solid pieces of Dwemer metal. In her thorough examination of the machine, she didn't hear her master sigh in annoyance before it was too late.

"Would you stop hovering? This is delicate work and having you standing over my head is distracting." Fiana flushed and took a few steps back.

"S-sorry, master. What would you like me to do?" Neloth grumbled at something in the machine, then waved a hand at her.

"I don't care, go and take a bath or something. You smell like Ash Spawn." Fiana frowned and gently brought her sleeve up to her nose. It smelled of sulfur and ash. She scrunched her nose slightly at the scent.

"Yes, master."

She quickly walked to the portal and floated up once again to where the bathing chambers and Neloth's bedroom resided. As she landed, she glanced at the door to Neloth's room. She could probably draw the door to his room and all of it's marks and scratches from memory for how long she had stared at it. The door was simple, just like the one at the front of Tel Mithryn, but it held several slight burns and marks as if he had taken out his anger on it. Fiana shook her head, tearing her gaze away from the door and her thoughts of what resided behind.

She stepped instead into the ornate bathing chambers and sighed happily when she saw that Verona had placed her favorite bathing oils there again. She wouldn't have been at all surprised to find out if Verona was psychic. She always seemed to know what everyone needed without even being there

Fiana pulled the doors shut behind her and drew her bath in the large tub as she dumped a small amount of the rosewood oil into the bath. She breathed deep as the hot water steamed up the chamber and the scent of rosewood assaulted her nose. She stepped behind the small screen before stripping herself of her Telvanni robes and smalls, finally noticing the amount of ash that had gathered on them. She closed her eyes and sighed. All you had to do to get dirty in Solsthiem was to just walk out of your front door it seemed.

She opened her eyes and looked at the large, floor length mirror. She examined her body, a little surprised each time she looked at herself. She examine the curves of her hips and her long, slender legs with interest and was very surprised at her flat and toned belly. It shouldn't have really been a surprise, though. With the amount of heavy lifting and retching from side effects of Neloth's spells, she could imagine the muscles there would be pretty solid.

She then noticed her ample chest. Not large like Verona's, but moderate and not problem causing. Fiana then looked at her face and frowned slightly. Her skin was just as grey and smooth as the rest of hers, but her face seemed to combat the curves of the rest of her. Her nose was sharp and her jaw matched. She looked at her bound hair in a tight bun and reached back with long, slender arms and untied the ribbon that tied in place, letting the black tendrils of hair wave down her back to end just past her shoulder-blades. It had used to be longer, but a mishap with yet another of Neloth's spells had forced her to cut it.

The final thing she noticed, mostly because she wanted them to just disappear, were her eyes. Almond shaped and an odd, yellow color. They always seemed to glow ever so slightly, but that could just be her imagination playing tricks on her. But every time she saw them, she also saw the glaring truth, no pun intended.

The only reason she was even here, was because of those eyes.

One of the things she always remembered in the first thing of being in Tel Mihthryn was his extreme fascination in her eyes. He even considered actually removing them, but he decided against it when he realized that she could make a pretty good cup of canis root tea and lacking sight would probably hinder many of his experiments. But one thing that he kept saying when it came to her eyes, was that they reminded him of Hermaeus Mora.

Fiana shook her head, hoping to the Three that her eyes weren't related to the daedric prince of fate and forbidden knowledge. The idea itself was enough to make her want to remove her eyes herself. She took another breath of the rosewood scented steam and smiled as it seemed to calm her nerves. She turned and walked to the bath, walking up the few short steps and cutting off the water. She eased herself into the hot water and let out a soft moan as she realized just how badly she needed this. She submerged everything in the water aside from her head and breathed out happily. It was rare that she could enjoy such luxuries, and she planned to milk as much time as she wished from this peaceful time...

_"Aaagh!"_

_Bang!_

Fiana jumped, looking at the door. That was master Neloth's scream. He hardly ever screamed like that. She jumped out of the bat and grabbed the first article of clothing she could find and threw it on to cover herself up and and ran to the the teleporter to see what happened.

The sight she saw after hitting the second floor made her jaw drop.

The machine he had been working on had exploded, sending fragments of metal everywhere. It was sticking out of the walls and laying all over the floor along with a large black mark. And worst of all, one of the larger pieces of shrapnel had lodged itself in Neloth's back. Luckily, he was on his stomach and unconscious, so he didn't put up too much of a fuss when she sprinted over to him and checked him for a pulse.

She put two fingers against the base of his throat and let out a sigh of relief when he was indeed unconscious. She then turned her attention to the hand-sized piece of shrapnel in his shoulder. It hadn't ht him in any major arteries, but it could have very possibly shattered his shoulder blade, something that a simple healing spell couldn't fix right away. She moved quickly to tear his robes where the shrapnel was so she could easily peel back that cloth. She couldn't help but color slightly at the thought of undressing her master, but quickly dismissed the thoughts. He could be dying, and I'm acting like a timid little girl.

She tested the area around to wound, earning a long, pained moan. Damn, the bone was shattered. She looked around the lab and found some netch jelly on one of the tables. She ran over and grabbed it, kneeling down before her master and applying the goo by dumping it around the wound. The jelly should paralyze the muscle for a short time and relive him of some pain. After the goo seeped in, she tore a piece of his robe off, figuring he'll yell at her for it later anyway. She held the cloth in one hand than wrapped a small hand around the shrapnel. She took a breath, then pulled it out quickly, pressing the cloth into the wound before he could lose too much blood on the floor. Keeping the cloth pressed firmly, she reached over and grabbed his robes again, ripping off a long strand with her teeth. She released her other hand after a few minutes and lifted Neloth slightly so that she could wrap the makeshift bandage around him. He let out another groan, reminding her that the jelly's effect was probably wearing off already.

She hoisted the injured wizard onto her shoulder and dragged him to her bedroom, laying him down on his belly. She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment and sending a silent prayer to the Three that he would be okay. She went back and grabbed the rest of the jelly and applied it directly to the bandage, ignoring the loss of feeling in her own fingers. She just wanted her Master to be alright.

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><p>When Fiana returned from making his tea, Neloth was awake and already starting on a tirade.<p>

"Where in Oblivion are my clothes? And why cant I feel- _Where are my pa_- Oh... I still have those..." Neloth looked around frantically for his robes, but found Fiana instead, holding one of his teacups. He sent her a glare.

"Are you drinking my tea?" He growled, seeming much more angry that his apprentice was holding one of his favorite teas cups than the fact that he was wearing torn strips from his robes and half naked in his apprentices bed.

Fiana paled and quickly moved toward him, handing him the cup.

"Sorry, Master. I thought you might like some tea to calm you after that explosion." He looked at her, confused, then he suddenly seemed to remember, and, if it was even possible, he looked even more peeved.

"Fantastic. Not only did my experiment fail, I am now wearing rags in my apprentices bed and ca-... can't..." He suddenly looked like he was trying very hard to speak, his face scrunched in pain. Fiana took that as her cue to help her Master sit up and remove the rags. She looked at the puckered injury and frowned.

"Master, you aren't going to be able to do many experiments for a while. A piece of your machine lodged itself into your shoulder and shattered the bone. You will be in quite a bit of pain for at least a week." Neloth didn't seem to be listening. He was too busy groaning and gritting his teeth as she prepared a healing spell to at least close the wound. She closed her eyes and focused on a white light behind her eyes and felt the warmth of a healing spell leave her fingertips and mend the flesh of the wizard. When the opened her eyes, she knew that the injury would probably mar his grey skin forever. She cursed herself silently for not being there with her Master, but settled on getting new rags to wrap him up.

When she returned with a new bundle of rags he seemed... Truly sad. Master Neloth didn't show many other emotions aside from annoyance, anger and intrigue. It was... heart breaking to see the look on his face dull his usually bright red eyes. Fiana stepped closer, to wrap him in the clean rags, but he didn't seem to care.

"I'm sorry about your machine, Master." he simply gave a sad and irritated sigh in response.

"You should be. I nearly had been working on that automated tea maker for months."

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><p>All of that just for a cup of tea... Ah, Neloth.<p>

Hope you guys enjoyed! ^.^


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